It Seems There Really Was A Helicarrier Hiding In 'Deadpool' All Along

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(Warning — mild, Easter Egg theme — and less mild plot-related — SPOILERS for Deadpool lie below. Proceed with whatever level of caution that suggests to you is wise...)

Now, by now, there's a pretty solid chance that you've seen Deadpool at least once, and quite possibly as many times as your local movie theater scheduling (and bank balance) would allow. As such, you've also most likely had the chance to scope out a whole lot of the movie's cunningly hidden Easter Eggs — and if not you can read more about 'em right here — including a certain giant vehicle better known for its appearances in the Marvel Studios Cinematic Universe.

Yup, that's right...

(Note, this is where those afore mentioned SPOILERS really kick in...)

It Totally Seemed Like There Was A S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier In 'Deadpool

Remember that whole climactic battle towards the end of the movie? Y'know, the one where Francis and his goons hide out in what looks an awful lot like a helicarrier, before being energetically assaulted by Deadpool and pals?

Well, on first glance, that inevitably kind of seemed to be a very subtle reference to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — just one, much like the appearance of 'Hydra' Bob, that was intentionally kept vague enough to infringe on rights held exclusively by Marvel Studios.

As it turns out, though...

The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier IS In 'Deadpool,' And We Have The Concept Art To Prove It

That right there is the work of concept artist Emmanual Shiu, who worked on Deadpool at the design stage, and who, it seems, very much had the traditional, MCU-based S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier in mind when creating the initial vision for that scene.

Fortunately — and importantly, if any Marvel-employed lawyers are reading this — the filmmakers opted to avoid legal trouble as much as possible, and (as Shiu told io9 recently), asked him to create a less copyright-law-breaking design:

"...he was asked to redesign the helicarrier so it looked as different as possible from the one in The Avengers. And it had to look like it had been taken apart in some places."

Which is, of course, how we ended up with the subtle — and for legal purposes presumably distinctly non-S.H.I.E.L.D-related — nod we saw in the final movie. Which, ultimately, did the job it set out to do (give a nod to fans in a way that didn't disrupt the movie) pretty darned perfectly.

That said, I get the feeling Nick Fury's still going to be pissed off...